Spool driving mechanism



Oct. 29, 1940. F4 HAMBLETQN ET AL 2,219,868

SPOOL DRIVING MECHANISM Filed June 1, 1938 INVENTORS ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 29, 1940 PATENT OFFICE SPOOL DRIVING MECHANISM Frederick Hambleton, Methuen, and'William T. Prescott, Andover, Mass., assignors to H & P Spool and Bobbin Company, a partnership composed of said Hambleton and said Prescott Application June 1, 1938, Serial No. 211,134

Claims.

This invention relates to spools or bobbins of the type which are driven by dogs which project upward from the top plate or bobbin rest of a spindle whirl. In some cases, the whirl is fixed 5 to a revoluble spindle and in other cases it is fixed to a tube which revolves on a spindle. The whirls top plate or face may be smooth or there may be integral driving dogs which'project upward from it. Such top face may be of various sizes and the dogs may be of different sizes and shapes.

We will refer to the whirl with dogs whether they are a part of the spindle or revolve on it as a revoluble whirl associated with a spindle or mere- 1y as a spindle whirl.

In the term spool, we include not only devices for winding textile strands comprising a barrel and two heads of equal size, but those having heads of unequal size, those having only one head and also the types known more specifically as bobbins which have a head integral with the barrel.

As now made, such spools have a slot or alined slots extending into the end face of one head which is usually the larger andis at the bottom when the thread is being wound on it. The dogs fit into these slots with a close sliding fit. The space left between is usually one-sixteenth of an inch or less.

If the spindle whirl revolves with or on the spindle, and the frame is doffed while the whirls are stationary, unless the slots are carefully placed over the dogs when the whirls start, the dogs may not enter the slots, or if they do enter, they first strike and injure the outside edges of the slots, when they start to revolve.

If the spindle whirls are revolving when the frame is being doffed or when a bobbin is to be put in place, the spool is pushed down over the spindle, until the end or bottom face of one head engages the dogs which may be revolving with the whirl at a very high rate of speed. On account of the relatively close fit of the dogs and slots, the dogs, particularly the outer edges which are revolving at the highest surface speed, frequently jump across the slots and hit the opposite walls of the slots in the head near their outside and clip their outer edges, thus gradually wearing out the bottom of the spool head, the

outer edges of the slots and the outer faces of the dogs until they no longer operate satisfactorily and the whole spool must be'thrown away. If and when the dogs are worn beyond a certain point, the whole tube, whirl and dogs or the whole spindle, whirl and dogs must be thrown away.

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. "Toprotect the slot, a sheet metal lining known as a driver is often used.

We have found that instead of cutting a slot into the spool head, by attaching two or more driving members to the end face of the spool head which is to be driven and leaving a substantial space between their side walls which will be engaged by the dogs, the spool, instead of being jammed. down, can be dropped into place. Because the gap between the drivingmembers is much wider, they drop down on each side of the dogs, whether the whirl is stationary or revolving', and, instead of the contacting faces of the dogs and driving members striking near their outer edges, the parts drop into position instantly with much less, if any, wear.

The principal advantages of our device are that the spool can be dropped in place on the spindle and engaged with the driving members or dogs much more quickly and without being worn in the process. This meanssaving time in doffing andmeans greater production and less cost.

The wear on dogs and spools is much less and if and when our spools wear, they can quickly and easily be repaired. We have found that a looseness between the dogs of the whirl and the driving members of our spool does no harm, while the ease and speed of doffing stops the operative from using the spool as a brake to speed up the doiflng.

In the preferred construction, these advantages are included and our driving members are so made that the spool can stand on its head steadily with no tendency to tip over and can be revolved in either direction.

By making the faces or edges of the driving members, which come in contact with the dogs, in plane's'which converge, forming sectors of a circle which has a center different from the center of the spool head and which, when in contact with .the dog, lies in the same vertical plane, the wear is greatly reduced as in dofifing it is impossible to jam the spool down onto the spindle in such a way that the outer edge of the dogwill hit the outer. edge of the driving member and when'driving, the adjoining faces contact over practically the entire length.

When our driving members eventually do wear, although they will last much longer than slots in the head, they can be removed and quickly replaced at the factory without being returned to the'spool maker; This saves a great deal of time and also cost of freight. Such repairs can (quickly be made by the ordinary tools, such as knives or saws, in the machine shop of the factory.

One or both heads of a spool can be equipped with our driving members which may be made of fibre, wood, plastic or metal and they can be used with any length, width or height of dogs.

In the drawing,

Fig. l is an elevation of a spindle with its whirl and driving devices for a spool, part of the spool being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a view of the bottom end of the large head of a spool which is to rest on the spindle whirl.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view looking down on the line 33 of Fig. 1. I

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4?4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic elevation showing a spool being operated on by a saw or knife in the process of removing the driving members.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4 of a variation.

Fig. '7 is an elevation, partly in section, of a whirl and tube on a dead spindle viewed from the direction of the arrow in Fig. 10.

Figs. 8 and 9 are views similar to Fig. 3 of modifications of the driving members. 1

Fig. 10 is a sectional view looking'down on line |2--|2 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 11 shows a double drive, two-headed spool.

In the drawing, S represents a spool of a wellknown type, including a barrel I through which is a spindle hole 2 and having the large head 3 and the small head 4. 5 is the end face or bottom face of head 3 and, as shown, is flat.

A is a spindle, which fits hole 2, and W is the whirl fixed to and revoluble with spindle A. From the top face of whirl W, the integral driving dogs 9, 9 project upwardly. The rest of the top face 8 of whirl W is shown as flat with the dogs projecting upwardly therefrom. I is the band for driving whirl W and spindle A.

'To the outside or bottom end or face of large head 3, we attach, preferably by means of rivets R, R, the two fan-shaped or sector-shaped driving members .D, D. As shown, the side walls H and l2of each driving member extend out at equal angles and form a center which is different from the center of the head and lies in the vertical plane of a side wall, such as 2| or 22,of the dogs 9, 9. These side walls, therefore, lie in flat vertical planes which are parallel with a radial line through the hole 2 in the spool and through the aXis of the spindle A.

These side walls are connected at their inner ends by a concave wall I 3 and at their outer ends by the convex wall I 4.

Preferably, the side faces 2| and 22 of the dogs .9, 9 are positioned in vertical planes and are parallel. The relation of the faces 2| and 22 of dogs 9, 9 to the side walls I and I2 of the driving members issuch that, as shown in Fig.3, opposite faces of opposite dogs will engage opposite side walls of driving members D, D along their entire lengths as this reduces wear on the parts.

It will be observed that the spaces between the proximate side walls of adjoining members D, D are and should be at least one-third greater than the thickness of the dogs 9, 9. If, as is usually the case, a dog is two-sixteenths inches thick, the space should be at least three-sixteenths and preferably more, or if the thickness of the dog is .three-siXteenths, the spaces should be four or five sixteenths.

Naturally, the space at the-outer ends of the side walls is much greater than at the inner ends and, as it is at the outer ends that the most wear occurs on slotted heads, such wear is entirely avoided.

The driving members should not extend in too closely to the driving dogs or the spindle and there should be at least a thirty per cent clearance between the inside edges of their adjoining walls and over onehundred per cent between the outside edges of the adjoining driving members, both in relation to the width of the dogs.

While driving members D, D might be attached in various ways, as, for instance, by glueing, we prefer to hold them in place by means of rivets R, R which pass through holes |6, IS in the driving members and through holes 6, 6 in each head. These rivets R, R, as shown in Fig. 4, may have solid heads, or as shown in Fig. 6, the rivets.T, T may be of thin metal of hour-glass shape so that they can be readily cut through.

In any event, however, as shown in Fig. 5, by attaching the driving members by rivets, when such members become worn, the worn driving members can readily be removed and replaced by new ones. As shown in Fig. 5, the rivets R, R, as well as the driving members D, D can be cut from the face of a head such as 3 by forcing a knife or saw K down close to the face of the head 3 until it goes right through the rivets. After the rivets have been so cut, the members D, D can be removed or will drop off.

The parts of the rivets which remain in the holes 6, 6 can be then driven out and new driving members can quickly be riveted in place.

We prefer the fan-shaped type of members D, D with equal sides, as the contacting surfaces between the driving members of the dogs is greater and wear is less.

In this construction, the spindle can revolve in either direction with the same result but in some cases, as shown in Fig. 8, we may prefer to use the distorted sector or fan-shaped driving members 4|, 4| projecting from a spool head 40. Members 4|, 4| are held in place by rivets 42. These differ from the construction shown in Fig. 2 because their side walls such as 43 and 44 do not diverge at equal angles.

In Fig. 9, we show a spool head 50 with driving members 5| of oblong shape, each attached by rivets 52, 52. The driving dogs are 53, 53 connected by a bulge 54 and the spindle is 55. The driving members shown in Figs. 8 and 9 are intended to be used only in driving one way as each has only one driving face which will engage substantially the whole length of a dog.

In Fig. 7, we show a dead or fixed cylindrical spindle 46 on which a tube 41 is revoluble with a whirl 48, carrying dogs 49, 49, by a band 66 to revolve a bobbin 6! with a small integral head 58 provided with driving members 69, 69.

In Fig. 10, the driving members 69, 69 are attached by glue 12 to the head 68 of a bobbin carried by tube 41 on spindle 46.

In some cases, the spindle whirl and dog are revolved on or with the spindle by friction and it makes no difference what the spindle is, as the spool is revolved by the spindle whirl.

As shown in Fig. 11, a spool P may have a barrel 80 and two heads 8| and 82, each with driving projections 83 and 84.

We claim:

1. The combination with a spindle whirl with a top face and dogs projecting therefrom, such dogs having straight side faces positioned in fiat Vertical planes which are parallel with each other and with a line through the center; of a spool having a bottom head with a flat end face; and a plurality of fan-shaped driving members attached to the spool head and projecting from said bottom face, the side walls of said driving members being in flat vertical planes at least one of which planes coincides with that of a dog while the dog engages the driving member and the spaces between adjoining side facesof adjoining driving members being over thirty per cent greater than the width of the dogs.

2. The combination with a spindle whirl with a top face and dogs projecting therefrom, such dogs having straight side faces positioned in flat vertical planes which are parallel with each other and with a line through the center of the spindie; of a spool having a disk-shaped bottom head with a flat end face; and a plurality of fanshaped or sector-shaped driving members attached to the spool head and projecting from said bottom face, the side walls of each of said driving members being in fiat vertical planes which converge at equal angles toward a line which is in one of the side faces of the dogs, the

angle between the side faces of each of the driv-- ing members being less than 3. The combination with a spool of the type of each of the driving members being less than 180. n

4. The combination with a spindle whirl with a top face and dogs projecting therefrom, such dogs having straight side faces positioned in flat vertical planes which are parallel with each other and with a'line through the center; of a spool having a bottom head with a flat end face; and

a plurality of driving members attached to the' spool head and projecting from said bottom face, one of the Walls of each of said driving members being in a fiat vertical plane at least one of which planes coincides with the side face of a dog while the dog engages the driving member, there being enough space between the adjoining sidefaces of adjoining driving members to allow the dogs to move in an arc of at least thirty degrees. v

5. The combination in a spool for use with a spindle whirl with a top face and dogs projecting therefrom, such dogs having straight side faces positioned in flat vertical planes which are parallel with each other and with a line through the center; said spool having a bottom head with a fiat end face; and a plurality of driving members attachedto the spool head and projecting from said bottom face, one of the side walls of each of said driving members being in a fiat vertical plane at least one of which planes coincides with the side face of a dog while the dog engages the driving member, there being enough space between the adjoining side faces of adjoining driving members to allow the dogs to move in an arc of at least thirty degrees.

FREDERICK I-IAMBLETON. WILLIAM T. PRESCOTT. 

